Feb. 25, 2010
Despite some strong performances on the court, the Bears couldn't manage to outgun the Wildcats. Winter Park's star forward, Austin Rivers, dropped 41 points into the net during massive scoring rallies that outpaced the Bears through four quarters.
Photos by Isaac Babcock — The Voice
By Isaac Babcock
The Voice
For four straight quarters there was seemingly nothing Winter Springs could do to stop Austin Rivers. The Winter Park boys basketball star went into overdrive under the Bears' arena lights, burying 41 points into the net on the way to the Wildcats' wild 83-60 blowout in the regional quarterfinal.
"I just get in zones sometimes and everything keeps going in," Rivers said of his stellar performance.
With the loss, the Bears (25-4) were knocked out of the regional tournament. Winter Springs had entered the regional tournament after a district championship, hungry for more and fresh off one of their best regular seasons of all time.
Winter Park was fresh off a devastating loss to Edgewater in the district tournament.
But Thursday night Rivers turned it on, mixing aggressive play with aerial gymnastics to bamboozle defenders for most of the game. Only in the first few minutes of the game was he off-tempo. Once he hit a hot streak, he lit up the net for the rest of the night.
In the most prolific eight minutes of his high school career, the Wildcats' star dropped 20 points into the net as he propelled his team forward with a momentum that wouldn't break until the end of the game.
At one point in the third quarter, the Wildcats were up by 26 points, though their scoring would temporarily wane as the Bears managed to close the gap to 14. But that's as close as they would ever come in the second half.
The Wildcats' Adam Jones hit all of his shots on the way to 13 points, and picked up 12 rebounds in the contest to help his team to the big win.
Winter Springs' Luis Jacobo tried desperately to close the gap, hammering home 18 points on his own. Austin Keel came up with numerous clutch shots and a strong performance from the free throw line to try to build momentum, but for the Bears it was too large a gap to close.
|
|
